How to Shoot Beautiful Natural Light Portraits in Harsh Direct Sun (VIDEO)

Natural light portrait photography is appealing because you don't need to bring complicated and cumbersome strobes and flashes to your shoot. Photographing portraits in natural light, however, is a lot more challenging than people realize, especially when the light doesn't cooperate.

One of the most difficult scenarios is trying to capture a portrait in harsh direct sunlight, which can make your subject look washed or, even worse, given them shadowy racoon eyes. Photography educator Jay P. Morgan of the Slanted Lens has some great photography tips on how to work with direct harsh sunlight to help you get gorgeous natural light portraits. It's all about understanding the laws of light, Morgan explains.

"I get asked this question all the time. Just tell me how you work? How do I conquer a lighting situation?" Morgan says. "So, I'm going to go through exactly how I'm going to conquer this lighting situation to be able to photograph Chanda with that Capitol Records building in the background. I want the light to look good, both in the background and on the her, let's take a quick look step by step at exactly what I'm going to do."

Watch Morgan's easy-to-follow tutorial below which was shot on location in Hollywood, CA and learn his tricks to optimize portrait photography in even the harshest of bright sunlit conditions. Then go jump over to the Slanted Lens YouTube channel to see all of his fantastic photography content.

If you want more help with shooting portraits, check out the links below the video with more portrait photography tips, how-tos, and tutorials.

More portrait photography tutotials:

6 Pros Share Their Lighting Secrets for Better Portrait Photography

5 Tips that Will Help You Shoot Stunning Natural-Light Portraits

Here’s How to Shoot Better Photos in Natural Light in 2 Simple Steps (VIDEO)

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